Nut-lock.



J W ROSE ANI) CHARLES A. FOX, OF. BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

Nur-LOCK.

Application led .Tune 11, 1913.

To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that we, J W ROSE and CHARLES A.FOX, citizens of the United States, and residing at Buffalo, in thecounty of Erie and State of New York, have invented new and usefulImprovements in NutLocks, of which the following is a specification. A

This invention relates to a nut lock which is constructed in the form ofa washer having a hole or perforation for the reception of the body ofthe bolt and an aperture on one or both sides of said hole whereby lipsare formed which are curved outwardly and are adapted to engage with aside of the nut of the bolt. A nut lock of this character is shown anddescribed in Letters Patent of the UnitedStates #718,838, grantedJanuary 20, 1903, and the present invention is an improvement on the nutlock shown in this patent. The improvements forming the subject o thisinvention are designed to permit the locking lips of the nut lock tomove freely laterally relatively to the body and prevent the same fromremaining in an inoperative position on the body so as to insure properengagementV ofthe locking lips with the nut at all times; also to soconstruct these lips that the same can be deflected comparatively easyby the nut when turning the same in the direction for tightening the nutbut will offer greater resistance to the latter vwhen the same is turnedbackwardly and thereby more eifectually prevent loosening lof the nutand relieving the lips from breaking strains; also to provide meanswhereby the locking lips are spaced apart or separated at the basethereof from one of the coperating members between which the nut lock isreceived for the purpose of permitting the base portions of the lips toyield and relieve the outer free portions of these lips from unduepressure and breaking strain when the same are deflected by the turningof the nut; and also to-provide the body of the nut lock around the bolthole with means whereby the inner edge or bore of the bolt hole isprevented from working into the threads of the bolt and the lockingdevice is maintained in its centered position relatively to the bolt,`thereby preventing interference with the turning of the nut and bolt onerelatively `to theother and also insur- Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 20, 1915.

serial No. 773,044.

proved nut lock. Fig. 5 is a fragmentaryview similar to Fig. 2, showinga slight modification of myrinvention. Fig. 6 is a vertical sectiontaken on line 6 6, Fig. 4.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views.

Although my improved nut lock is applicable to nuts and bolts forvarious uses in which the loosening of the nut should be prevented thesame has been shown in the drawings as applied to a bolt and nut wherebytwo fish plates are secured to opposite sides of a rail.

In these drawings, l represents the rail, 2, 3 the fish plates engagingwith opposite sides of the rail, l the body or shank of the bolt passingtransversely through coinciding openings in the web of the rail and thefish plates and bearing with its head 5 against the outer side of one ofthe fish plates, and 6 a screw nut applied to the opy posite threadedend of the bolt shank.

My improved nut lock which is associated with the parts just describedfor preventing loosening of the nut is constructed as follows: In itspreferred form this nut lock is constructed of a single pieceV or sheetof spring metal, preferably though not necessarily of steel, which formsthe body 7 of the nut lock. In its central part the body of the nut lockis provided with a hole'or perforation 8, preferably of circular form,which is adapted to receive the shank or body of thebolt. This nut lockis adapted to be placed upon the bolt between the nut and the outersurface of the adjacentv member through which the bolt passes so thatthe body of the nut lock bears frictionally against the said member. Onone or both sides of this bolt hole but preferably `on both sides, thebody of the nut lock, as shown in thedrawings, is provided-4 'is curvedon a shorter radius.

with two curved or crescent-shaped slots 9 having their inner wallsarranged adjacent to the bolt hole. The lmetal bounded by the innerwallof each of these slots forms a detent, retaining or locking Vlip 10,which is bent outwardly or laterally on a curve relatively to the planeof the body of the nut lock so as to engage with the side of the nutadjacent to the periphery thereof and resist turning of the nut.

In the nut lock of the patent heretofore referred to, the locking lipswere formed by slitting the sheet of metal between the body and thelocking lips, which is unsatisfactory because these lips when pressedinwardly by the nut upon turning the latter are liable to become caughtat their edges by .frictional' engagement with the opposite edge of theslitted portion of the body with the result that these locking lipswould not always follow up the nut and assume their proper positionrelatively to the nut for preventing or resisting turning of the same.In order j to prevent the lips from thus engaging their edges with theadjacent edges of the body the separation between these lips and thebody 0f the nut lock is etl'ectedby actually removing a part of thestock of material of the sheet metal blank in forming the slots 9, asshown in Fig. 4, instead of merely slittingthe sheet metal between theseparts. By this means the edge of each locking lip forming the inner wallof the curved or crescentshaped slot is separated or spaced apart fromthe outer edge or wall of this slot on the body which positivelyprevents these edges from engaging with each other upon pressing thelips inwardly by the action of the rotary movement of the screwV nutagainst the same, thereby leaving these lips always free to constantlyspring outwardly due to their resilience and properly engage theperipheral edge portion of the nut for resisting turning of the same.l

Asshown in Figs. 2 and, the locking lips are bent so that the edgeportion 11 of 'each locking lip which is engaged by the advancing partof the nut is curved on a comparatively long radius while the other oropposite edge portion 12 of the lip which is engaged by the backing partof the nut The advantage in thus curving one part of the edge of thislip on a greater radius than the o'p-. posite edgeportion is that thenut can be Y tightened or screwed forwardly moreV easily ren;

.backing part of the screw nutl which operates to oder a greaterresistance to the movement of the screw nut in a direction Y which wouldunscrew the same or back it off the body of the bolt. will thus beapparent thatA by this means the nut can be tightened quickly and withlittle exertion inasmuch as the locking lips upon tighten,

ing the nut can be deiiected" with comparative ease but these lips offergreater resista-nce to the reverse movement of the nut and thus insureagainst loosening of the nut on the bolt. Furthermore, by thisconstruction of the locking lips the same are relieved Y the outer partof each'- lip is comparatively Y rigid and is liable to bebrokenby-thestrain which is exerted the-rotation 'of the nut over the sameduring which movement the order to relieve the-lockinglip'sof uaidujepressure and breaking strainsand to obtain greater resilience of eachlocking lip and `locking lip is straightened more or less. In

permit the same to shiftV its position and Y accommodateitself tothesurface of the nut without straining the lip, the inner part or baseof each lip is held away from ait least one of the` coperating'membersbetween which the nut l'ock'is placed. In the 'construction shown invFigs. 2, 3` l this is effected by forming an annulary outwardly orforwardly projecting spacing" beadl on the nut lock body around' thebolthole thereof and preferably concentrically therewith. UponA placingthis nut lockbetween the nut and the adjacent fislr plate, the rear sideof the base of each locking lip engages frictionally-with thefadjacentfi'sh plate while the front side ofthe base of'eacli' of theselockingv lips is spaced'l apart oir held away fromf the inner side ofthe screw nut by reason of the' spacing bead` 13 engaging with the screwnut.l That portionV of each locking lip at the base thereofV istherefore A not clamped between the' screw nfut and-the adjacent fish`plate and' not confined" positively, thereby relieving each liplof'undfue pressure andv breaking strains and permitting this portion ofthe Vlip to addits'resilie'n'c'e to that of the outer f r'ee part of thelip which causes the locking lip asi a' whole to be relieved of strainand to? be deected readily by theA rotation of vthe'"screw nut withoutliability. of breaking the lip. In-VV stead of forming this spacing beadon the outer or front side of the bodyof vthe locking nut the' same eectcan be produced `by forming this' spacing bead on the rear or Fig. 5. n

Owing to the thin metal from whichthis nut lock is made the inner edgeofthe' same forming the bore of the bolt hole therein is .125 inner sideof the body, as shown at 14 in V liable to work into the threads of thebolt and throw the locking device out of center relatively to the boltso that the lip or lips would not properly engage the nut, and alsocramp the bolt, so as to interfere with the proper turning 'of the nutand bolt relatively to each other. In order to prevent the bolt holeedge of the nut lock from thus working into the threads of the bolt,means are provided which preferably consist of a plurality of radialstop ribs 15 arranged on the body around the bolt hole and forming athickening of the body at this place which causes the same to bridge thespace between the threads of the bolt. These stop ribs are preferablyformed on the front side of the body of the nut lock so that they extendradially outward from the bolt hole to the spacing bead by stamping ordeflecting the metal of the body forwardly and in this way increasingthe width of the body at intervals around the bolt hole. This increasedwidth is greater than the distance between two adjacent screw threads ofthe bolt, whereby the inner edge or bore of the bolt hole in the nutlock is caused to bridge the threads of the bolt at intervals and theobjectionable feature above referred to is avoided. The turning of thenut lock is prevented by engagement of its outer edge either with thehead of the rail, the base of the adjacent fish plate or otherprojection on the rail or fish plate.

This nut lock is exceedingly simple in construction and as the same canbe pro duced from a single sheet of metal by comparatively simple toolsthe same can be manufactured at very low cost.

We claim as our invention:

1. The combination of a body, a bolt passing through said body andhaving a nut, and a plate interposed between said body and nut andhaving a central hole which receives the shank of said bolt, acurvedslot on one side of said bolt hole forming a lip which is bentforwardly and engages the rear corners of said nut, and an annular beadformed on the front side of the plate around the bolt hole and engagingwith the rear side of said nut.

2. A nut lock comprising a plate having a central bolt hole and a curvedslot on one side of said bolt hole and forming a lip which isbentlaterally and adapted to engage the side of a nut and said plate beingprovided on one of its sides between its hole and slot and at a distancefrom both of these with a laterally projecting bead which is adapted toengage with a cooperating member.

3. A nut lock comprising a plate having a central bolt hole and a curvedslot on one side of said bolt hole and forming a lip which is bentlaterally and adapted to engage the side of a nut and said plate beingprovided at its bolt hole with a radial stop bead for preventing theplate from working into the threads of the bolt.

4. A nut lock comprising a plate having a central bolt hole and a curvedslot on one side of said bolt hole and forming a lip which is bentlaterally and adapted to engage the side of a nut, said plate being alsoprovided around its hole with a laterally projecting annular spacingbead and with a plurality of radial stop ribs extending from the bore ofsaid hole outwardly.

5. A nut lock comprising a plate having a central bolt hole and a curvedslot on one side of said bolt hole and forming a lip which is bentlaterally and adapted to engage the side of a nut, a portion of thestock of said plate being removed in the formation of said slot so thatthe opposite walls of the slot are separated by an intervening clearspace or gap, the curvature of that part of said lip which is engaged bythe advancing side of the nut being of a greater radius than that partof said lip which is engaged by the backing side of said nut, said platebeing also provided around its hole with a laterally projecting annularspacing bead and with a. plurality of radial stop ribs extending fromthe bore of said hole outwardly.

Vitness our hands this 3rd day of June,

J W ROSE. CHARLES A. FOX. W itnesses:

THEO. L. Pori), v WALTER P. GEYER.

C'opies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

